The 10 Best Shooting Glasses

We spent 47 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top options for this wiki. You might think that as long as you're on the opposite end of the shooty-part (that's a technical term), then you'll be safe while using your firearm. This belief will last only until you catch a cloud of powder in the eye. But if you have a pair of these shooting glasses on, you'll have little to worry about. They also cut down on glare, and some can even improve your vision.
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We spent 47 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top options for this wiki. You might think that as long as you're on the opposite end of the shooty-part (that's a technical term), then you'll be safe while using your firearm. This belief will last only until you catch a cloud of powder in the eye. But if you have a pair of these shooting glasses on, you'll have little to worry about. They also cut down on glare, and some can even improve your vision.
When users buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn commissions to support our work.
Skip to the best shooting glass on Amazon.

10. Gateway Safety Airsoft

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The bright pink Gateway Safety Airsoft will help you stand out at the range, while also making it harder for you to misplace them in the meantime. They're made from a very lightweight plastic, but they're more than capable of keeping out debris.

9. Caldwell 320040

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If you're the type who's constantly misplacing your glasses, the Caldwell 320040 are incredibly inexpensive, so replacing them won't put you in the poorhouse. They're a smart choice for instructors who are always having to lend out their own eyewear to students.

8. Radians Revelation

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The Radians Revelation are available in a variety of tints, so you can stay stylish while you improve your skills. They're snug enough that you don't need to attach a strap to keep them on, but they won't pinch your skull, even after a long day at the range.

7. Milcraft Shatterproof

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Hunters will love the Milcraft Shatterproof, as they're ideal for use in any conditions, from hot summer days to wintry snow and sleet. They don't have a metal hinge, either, so you don't need to worry about them rusting if you get rained on.

6. Howard Leight Genesis

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The clear Howard Leight Genesis offer an unobstructed view of your target, regardless of whether you're at the range or perched in a tree stand. The adjustable nosepiece allows you to conform them to your specific face shape, ensuring they don't slide off.

5. ESS Eyewear Crossbow Suppressor 2X

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The ESS Eyewear Crossbow Suppressor 2X are designed to provide maximum coverage and comfort for those who sport earcup hearing protection, as the thin temple arms allow for a superior seal. Even better, they're also specially coated to prevent fogging.

4. Allen Over

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For those who need to keep their prescription eyeglasses on while at the range, the Allen Over fit on top of your existing frames, offering a double-dose of defense while also ensuring that your everyday pair doesn't get damaged, either.

3. Champion Traps and Targets

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This youth pair from Champion Traps and Targets is a great way to introduce kids to the sport, while also being a smart choice for older users with narrow faces. The molded nosepiece keeps them in place, even if you're sweating as many bullets as you're shooting.

2. Smith Optics Elite Aegis Arc

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The Smith Optics Elite Aegis Arc boast a tapered uni-lens that eliminates optical distortion while delivering excellent coverage and strength, and the rubber nose guard enhances user comfort — so you'll be down a couple of excuses every time you miss.

1. Blupond Sports

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This pair from Blupond Sports is polarized, cutting down on any light that might interfere with your aim while simultaneously offering a more vivid perspective on your surroundings. The shatterproof lenses should survive even the roughest treatment, to boot.

Safety First: Choosing Shooting Glasses

Many pairs of shooting glasses can fit over prescription lenses and offer protection to on their sides that few regular pairs of glasses can offer.

Whether you are sighting in your rifle at a shooting range, hunting in the deep woods, or using an air rifle to take shots at cans stacked on a fence on your own large property, unless you are wearing shooting glasses, you are doing it all wrong. Wearing a good pair if shooting glasses is simply imperative for protecting your eyes when you or anyone near you is using a firearm. Shooting glasses can keep you safe from ricochet shots, debris thrown up by a bullet's impact, and from the flame, dust, and burning powder released as each shot goes off.

Good shooting glasses are rated to resist shattering when struck by flying debris and even by a ballistic object, such as a bullet, arrow, or pellet, though likely not in the event of a direct hit. Proper shooting safety measures are still important even when you're wearing safety gear such as glasses so you can minimize the chance of this ever happening. As for choosing proper shooting glasses for your needs, that depends on a few factors.

First, consider your own standard eyewear products and the associated vision correction needs. If you wear contact lenses or if you have naturally good eyesight, then you have wide latitude when it comes to picking the right shooting glasses. If you wear glasses over which your shooting frames must fit, then make sure to only consider options that can accommodate this need. Many pairs of shooting glasses can fit over prescription lenses and offer protection to on their sides that few regular pairs of glasses can offer. Or, in other words, wearing glasses is not the same as wearing shooting glasses; you need to slip a pair over your regular everyday frames.

Next consider the conditions in which you will do most of your shooting. Many shooting glasses have lenses that are yellow or pale orange in color. These shades help to reduce the distortion caused by haze and to accentuate the orange color used on many targets and worn by many hunters. Such colored lenses can also help increase the clarity of contrast a shooter sees in lower light conditions, making for safer shooting at dusk or dawn.

Ideally, though, you can select one of the fine pairs of shooting glasses with lenses that can be easily swapped out as needed. Many shooting glasses come with several different lenses, each of a different shade (or with clear lenses) that will suit at different times of day and locations.

Note that most shooting glasses are highly scratch resistant, which is an important feature, as scratched lenses will make your aim less accurate and less safe. You can usually take this design element for granted, but go ahead and confirm it prior to making a purchase.

Tips For Safe Shooting

The best way to stay safe when at a gun range or when out hunting is to keep your firearm unloaded, save for when you are about to be actually shooting. Make sure you know your firearm well before you ever load it, too; achieve an intimate familiarity with the safety, the bolt or other cocking mechanism, the trigger's pull strength, and so forth. And be absolutely sure you only use ammunition that you're sure is appropriate for the gun.

The best way to stay safe when at a gun range or when out hunting is to keep your firearm unloaded, save for when you are about to be actually shooting.

Next, know your surroundings well. For hunters, establish fields of fire and no-go areas which will b kept clear of people at all times. At the firing range, make sure you are using an appropriate type of weapon for the location -- some ranges have different areas for pistols as from long guns, for example, while others might have specific bans on certain types of firearm.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the safest direction for a firearm to be pointed when it is not aimed downrange is not always at the ground. If you are at a shooting range (or anywhere else) with a so-called hard deck, which is to say flooring made of concrete or asphalt, then gun barrels should actually be aimed upward when not directed toward the firing line.

This helps to prevent potentially injurious or even fatal ricochet shots that are accidentally fired downward against a hard surface. If your range has a floor made of packed dirt or gravel, then by all means aim down. The same is true for hunters or marksmen out in the woods or the fields. And when you are done shooting, unload your firearms of any additional ammunition, clean them thoroughly, and then store them away in a locked gun safe.

Other Gear To Get For Safe Shooting

Safe shooting starts with proper knowledge of the firearms you're using, the location in which you will be firing, and by protecting your eyes with shooting glasses. But there is much more involved in responsible, safe operation of a potentially deadly weapon. And the safer you are when using a rifle, pistol, or shotgun, the safer all those potentially in range of the weapon will be as well.

But there is much more involved in responsible, safe operation of a potentially deadly weapon.

It's critical that you protect your ears when you are firing a gun. The report from a hand gun can crackle at more than 175 decibels, which is more than enough noise to cause instant hearing damage. Even a small bore rifle surpasses the 140 decibel level, which is often considered a threshold for acute damage to the hearing; with regular, unprotected exposure to gunshots, you can be certain of chronic, likely permanent hearing loss. Wearing a good set of earplugs or safety earmuffs is not optional when it comes to using firearms.

Whether to resist the numbing effects of cold weather or to help you absorb some of the recoil of each shot, shooting gloves are a great tool that many shooters swear by. Look for gloves that fit well without restricting movement but without any loose fabric that could reduce your control on the firearm.

Finally, make sure the targets at which you are shooting are safe given the circumstances. Heavy duty steel targets might be fine for use with powerful rifle rounds or shotgun slugs that can easily knock them out of the way and fly on, for example, but the same target may send a pistol bullet bouncing wildly astray. Consider instead a "self healing" target made out of ballistic rubber than can absorb a bullet or else let it pass through with minimal directional change.

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Quincy is a writer who was born in Texas, but moved to Los Angeles to pursue his life-long dream of someday writing a second page to one of his screenplays.

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